What do you consider the most momentous discovery in science?
A question posed to Astronomers, whose answered ranged from the Copernican principle, to Newton's calculus and laws of motions, to Darwinian evolution. Some said the scientific method itself. I tend to agree, but I wouldn't call it scientific method. This was my answer:
"Define science. If by science you mean knowledge, the most momentous discoveries, developments, and inventions are in pre-history: Language, that allows us to share acquired knowledge with others. Writing, that allows us to pass that knowledge unscathed to other generations. Fire, of course, the first major step in engineering, and that also allowed us to cook our food, preventing diseases and maximizing calorie intake. Without these abilities, we would hardly have done better than chimps and dolphins.
But let me say that the question is moot. It stems from the "winner" culture of our society. There has to be a number 1, right? So there must be a discovery that we can consider the "most" momentous.
I'd argue against that. Every discovery builds upon another, so there's no discovery that is "most momentous", because you can always argue it depended on another one. That discovery is therefore more important, and we enter an infinite regression. Watson needed Schrodinger, who needed Bohr, who needed Planck, who needed Maxwell, who needed Newton, who needed Galileo, who needed Tycho, who needed Ptolemy; and there we go all the way back to Thales.
So, I would agree with X and Y, that the greatest development in human history is reason. But let's not be parochial and equate that to the "scientific method". Giving credit where credit is due, the greatest human achievement is Philosophy."
